The Battle of the Books

Read exciting English-language books, have fun in a team, play and win! The Battle of the Books is a competition between teams from different schools, through which the players can get to know English-language literature ... and win fabulous prizes!

Ten students (10^th grade and above) make up a team and can register for the competition. Each member of the team has to read at least one book in English and discuss it with American native speakers. This is important for the team as a whole, because once you are an expert about a given book you can represent your school in a team. Naturally, everyone can read all the books, that makes your team even stronger on the day of the Battle. At the Battle, the teams will be asked questions about the content of the books. To collect points and advance to the finals, you have to know not only the correct answers, but be faster than the other teams.

For 2009/2010, we'll have an information evening in September. As of October 2009, we'll start the "reading phase" and the competition - The Battle of the Books - takes place in February 2010!

You can receive detailed information about the reading list and the competition itself from Kathleen Röber, Program Manager, roeber@dai-nuernberg.de, Tel.: 0911 - 230 69 12.

Read about the first Battle of the Books 2008/2009:

In October 2008, the first players in the Battle of the Books began to read not only American classics, but also modern American literature and discussed them with their mentors - all American native speakers.

In March 2009, the Endgame took place under the patronage of Mayor Dr. Ulrich Maly . The teams could finally show just how much they knew about the books they'd read.

Five teams from the region with 10 members each - spurred on by the cheers of their fans - fought to reach the finale: the "Book Weasels" from the Hans-Sachs-Gymnasium Nürnberg, the "Book Busters" from the Hermann-Kesten-Kolleg Nürnberg, the "Bookaholics" of the Gymnasium Stein, and two teams from the Leibnitz-Gymnasium in Altdorf, the "Book Worms" and the "Chocolate Chip Cookies".


After Mayor Dr. Klemens Gsell greeted the team in the name of Mayor Maly, Moderator Kathryn Crockart, consul at the American Consulate in Munich opened the first duel of the day.

Just like in the RTL-Familienduell on television, after selecting a given book, the expert from each team met in a head-to-head clash. The first to know the answer and push the buzzer pulled three more questions for his or her team. Correct answers racked up points.

After the preliminary rounds, the finalists were matched: The "Bookaholics" of the Leistungskurs Englisch of the Gymnasium Stein and the "Chocolate Chip Cookies", students from the 10^th grade of the Leibnitz-Gymnasium Altdorf. In the exciting finale, the "Bookaholics" fought their way to the top and won the first Battle of the Books! Both teams won gift certificates for the (English(?)) books of their choice.
WELL DONE EVERYONE!